twistedcubic writes: The New York Times reports that Russian police use software piracy raids as an excuse to suppress dissenting groups, such as Baikal Environmental Wave, who oppose the reopening of a paper mill which dumps waste chemicals in Lake Baikal. The environmental group says it purchased Microsoft software to avoid a raid, to no avail. Many such groups have the charges dismissed in court, but this apparently does not stop the government.Link to Original Source

twistedcubic writes: Red Hat and Novell have been sued for patent infringement in Texas by IP Innovation, LLC. and Technology Licensing Corporation. On October 9, IP Innovation filed suit claiming Red Hat and Novell violated U.S. patents 5072412,5533183, and 5394521. The patents were originally assigned to Xerox Corporation. A cursory look suggests the patents involve virtual workspaces and sticky windows with different properties in each virtual workspace. Groklaw has the scoop.